Anointing His Feet121Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. 2Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. 3Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.4Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, 5“Why wasn’t this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” 6He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them. 7Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you. You don’t always have me.”9Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. 10So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus 11because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him. See How Your King Comes12The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. 13They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel! 14Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:15No fear, Daughter Zion:See how your king comes,riding a donkey’s colt. 16The disciples didn’t notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him. 17The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. 18It was because they had spread the word of this latest God–sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. 19The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: “It’s out of control. The world’s in a stampede after him.”A Grain of Wheat Must Die20There were some Greeks in town who had come up to worship at the Feast. 21They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee: “Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?”22Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip together told Jesus. 23Jesus answered, “Time’s up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. 25In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. 26“If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. 27“Right now I am storm–tossed. And what am I going to say? ‘Father, get me out of this’? No, this is why I came in the first place. 28I’ll say, ‘Father, put your glory on display.’ ”A voice came out of the sky: “I have glorified it, and I’ll glorify it again.”29The listening crowd said, “Thunder!”Others said, “An angel spoke to him!”30Jesus said, “The voice didn’t come for me but for you. 31At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. 32And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me.” 33He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death. 34Voices from the crowd answered, “We heard from God’s Law that the Messiah lasts forever. How can it be necessary, as you put it, that the Son of Man ‘be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”35Jesus said, “For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn’t destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don’t know where you’re going. 36As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You’ll be children of light.”Their Eyes Are BlindedJesus said all this, and then went into hiding. 37All these God–signs he had given them and they still didn’t get it, still wouldn’t trust him. 38This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right:God, who believed what we preached?Who recognized God’s arm, outstretched and ready to act?39First they wouldn’t believe, then they couldn’t—again, just as Isaiah said:40Their eyes are blinded,their hearts are hardened,So that they wouldn’t see with their eyesand perceive with their hearts,And turn to me, God,so I could heal them.41Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God’s cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah. 42On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn’t come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. 43When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God’s glory.44Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, “Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. 45Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. 46I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won’t have to stay any longer in the dark. 47“If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn’t take it seriously, I don’t reject him. I didn’t come to reject the world; 48I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I’m saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word–made–flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. 49I’m not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. 50And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That’s all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you.”